By Asia Samachar
Copyright asiasamachar
By Asia Samachar | United States |
A steep new US$100,000 (RM420,700 or S$128,400) fee for H-1B work visas in the United States took effect on Sunday, a move expected to hit Indian professionals the hardest as they account for nearly three-quarters of all applicants.
The measure follows a presidential proclamation signed on Friday by U.S. President Donald Trump, who said the fee is designed to curb what he called “systemic abuse” of the program.
India has long been the biggest beneficiary of the H-1B visa program, far outpacing every other country.
In 2024, Indians accounted for 283,397 approvals—71% of all recipients. China ranked a distant second with 46,680 approvals (11.7%), while no other country exceeded 1.3%.
In the proclamation, Trump said: “The H-1B nonimmigrant visa program was created to bring temporary workers to perform high-skilled functions. But it has been deliberately exploited to replace, rather than supplement, American workers with lower-paid, lower-skilled labor.
“The large-scale replacement of American workers through systemic abuse has undermined both our economic and national security.”
Trump argued that some employers have used H-1B visas to artificially suppress wages, hurting U.S. workers and making it harder to attract the best global talent, particularly in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields.
The White House moved quickly to calm fears among current visa holders after confusion swirled through tech companies and immigrant communities.
“This is NOT an annual fee,” said White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on X (formerly Twitter). “It’s a one-time charge per petition and will not apply to existing H-1B holders re-entering the country.”
Despite the reassurance, major U.S. employers including Microsoft, JPMorgan, Amazon, and Goldman Sachs urged H-1B employees to limit international travel until the policy is fully implemented, according to internal memos cited by Reuters.
The National Association of Software and Service Companies (Nasscom), India’s powerful IT industry group, warned that the new fee could disrupt onshore technology projects and complicate U.S. client engagements.
India’s External Affairs Ministry echoed those concerns, highlighting potential humanitarian consequences from disrupted family plans and calling for close consultation between U.S. and Indian industries “to safeguard innovation and creativity on both sides.”
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